free llc names available in texas [Expert Advice]

Last updated : Aug 12, 2022

How do you find out if a name is available for an LLC in Texas?

If you wish the secretary of state to provide a preliminary determination on name availability, you may call (512) 463-5555, dial 7-1-1 for relay services, or e-mail your name inquiry to Corporations Section.

How do I look up a business name in Texas for free?

To determine the name's availability, you can conduct a preliminary search on existing business entities using Texas's secretary of state website, SOSDirect. You can also call (512) 463-5555 or email corpinfo@sos.texas.gov with your name inquiry.

How do I create a unique LLC name?

1. Make It Legal. The most important thing when you're choosing an LLC name is to make sure it's legal.
2. Make It Memorable. You want your LLC name to be something people can remember.
3. Make It Meaningful.
4. Make It Original.
5. Make It Distinctive.
6. Make It Domain Name Ready.
7. Make It Social Media Friendly.

How do you look up if an LLC name is taken?

In most states, the website of the state business filing agency includes an online entity name check tool. You can use the online tool to search business names and find out whether another business is already using the name you have chosen.

How much does it cost to start an LLC in Texas?

The basic total cost of forming an LLC in Texas is $300. The basic total cost of registering a foreign LLC in Texas is $750. The optional costs of a certified copy of the filing document, a certificate of status, and hiring an outside registered agent could raise this total by between $85 and $535.

Is this name available for my business?

To start, go to the USPTO's Trademark Electronic Business Center and choose "Search trademarks." Then follow the instructions you see on the screen. Check state trademark databases. In addition to checking the federal trademark register, it's a good idea to check your state's trademark database.

How do you name an LLC in Texas?

1. Your name must include the phrase “limited liability company” or “limited company” or one of its abbreviations (LLC, L.L.C., LC, or L.C.).
2. Your name cannot imply that the LLC is organized for an unlawful purpose.
3. Your name cannot include the words “lotto” or “lottery.”

How long does it take to get LLC approved in Texas?

Filing the COF How long it takes to set up an LLC in Texas depends on the speed of service. We recommend that you file the COF online and use expedited services. Currently, the SOS takes up to 40 days to approve LLCs. With expedited service, formation takes approximately 5 days.

How do I look up an LLC in Texas?

Search for a business entity (Corporation, LLC, Limited Partnership) in Texas by going to the Secretary of State's Website. Preform a lookup by Name, Tax ID Number, or File Number.

What are examples of LLC names?

• ABC Limited Liability Company.
• ABC Limited Liability Co.
• ABC Limited.
• ABC L.L.C.
• ABC LLC.
• ABC Ltd.

Should I name my LLC after myself?

Sometimes it makes sense to name your LLC after yourself if you want to grow your personal brand, but in some cases using your personal name can limit your business' growth or even confuse customers.

How do I create a catchy business name?

1. Use acronyms. Using a set of initials is a popular approach for naming your business.
2. Create mash-ups.
3. Draw inspiration from mythology and literature.
4. Use foreign words.
5. Use your own name.
6. Take a look at a map.
7. Mix things up.
8. Partner with another company.

Can two companies have the same name?

Can Two Companies Have the Same Name? Yes, however, certain requirements must be met in order for it to not constitutes trademark infringement and to determine which party is the rightful owner of the name. These requirements include: Are the businesses in the same industry or geographic location?

How do I trademark a name for free?

You can not register a trademark for free. However, you can establish something known as a "common law trademark" for free, simply by opening for business. The benefit of relying on common law trademark rights is that it's free, and you don't need to do any specific work filling out forms, etc.

How do I know if a company name is trademarked?

Before you apply, you should search the USPTO's trademark database (Trademark Electronic Search System, or TESS) to see if any trademark has already been registered or applied for that is: Similar to your trademark.

Does an LLC expire in Texas?

In Texas, does an LLC have an expiration date? A limited liability company's articles of organization may allow its members to designate the duration of the company. An LLC's expiration date can be specified but if no expiration date is specified, the LLC might continue indefinitely.

Do you have to renew LLC Every year in Texas?

Unlike most states, Texas does not require LLCs to file annual reports with the Secretary of State. However, LLCs must file annual franchise tax reports (see below).

How much does it cost to maintain an LLC in Texas?

Texas LLC Certificate of Formation ($300) The fee for a mail filing is $300 and the fee for an online filing is $308. The filing fee is a one-time fee. You don't have to pay any monthly (or annual) fees to maintain your Texas LLC.

Can you use a business name that already exists?

If a business name is already trademarked, you are prohibited from using it even if the company operates in a different state to yours. Trademark issues can be complex. In trademark infringement cases, courts look at whether consumers would be confused by two businesses that operate in the same industry.

How do I copyright a name?

Registering a trademark for a company name is pretty straightforward. Many businesses can file an application online in less than 90 minutes, without a lawyer's help. The simplest way to register is on the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office's Web site, www.uspto.gov.

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do you want to start an llc in texas this year today you will learn about the most common ways to start your business including the correct forms you'll need how to register your llc critical naming requirements and all other vital tips and tricks then as a bonus later on in the video i will reveal to you a trustworthy registered agent who will help set up your llc for free so make sure to stick with me until the end the state of texas like other states has several specific llc requirements there are three main ways you can start an llc in texas first is the diy or do-it-yourself process where you mostly depend on texas state's website the second way is hiring a professional service that practically offers more efficiency and security in the process of creating your llc while the third one is hiring an attorney we will skip the attorney hiring portion because that's expensive and most business owners won't need that service first let's take a look at the steps required for starting an llc on your own step one name your business before anything else you will have to think of the llc's legal business name each llc in texas must have a distinct llc name that is not currently in use you must include the terms limited liability company or an abbreviation such as llc you cannot include phrases such as a corporation which would lead people to believe you are a different business organization knowing if your business name is taken or not is very easy just go to google and type in the words business entity records texas secretary of state and click the first search result i also have the link in the description below for your convenience it will lead you to a landing page of business entity records in texas scroll down a little and you will see some search options which make checking the availability of your business name easier generally you can click the first option entity name and type in your business name for example i am typing a very common business name here laundry mart which will give you a list of existing business names a unique business name will say no matches found just like this random name i typed in keep in mind that the division of revenue doesn't check names for trademark compliance it's ultimately up to you and your business attorney to ensure that your llc's name doesn't infringe on any other company's rights step two texas requires llc to have a registered agent an agent has a physical address a po box is not allowed and is available during business hours this agent will serve as the llc's primary point of contact for receiving key legal papers tax warnings summons subpoenas and so on you can register yourself or someone in your company but i highly recommend getting a professional registered agent as they have more knowledge by protecting your company in cases of possible cracks while i agree that family members or friends are reliable enough to be trusted as your llc's agent you are more comfortable sleeping at night knowing that your agent is professional and trained to manage legal documents to avoid problems concerning court schedules filing reports with the secretary of state etc besides hiring a professional registered agent is not expensive in fact there are companies that offer a free registered agent as part of your package when you form your llc through them inc file is a company i recommend which has this free service inc file offers a free registered agent on your first year of signing up for their service during that free year you can already take advantage of a professional and trained agent to receive legal documents on your behalf a dashboard where you can always access the correspondence that your agent has received as well as email notifications and automatic forwarding whenever your registered agent receives documents step 3 filing the texas llc certificate of formation after that you must file the certificate of formation with the texas secretary of state's business entities division and the office of the judge of probate to officially incorporate a domestic texas limited liability company the texas state filing cost for llcs is two hundred dollars for domestic llcs and 750 dollars for foreign llcs basically a domestic llc means that you are already a resident of texas and you want to build a business in texas foreign llc on the other hand is for people living outside texas but wanting to start a business or a franchise of their business in texas with that said most businesses would be applying for a domestic llc you can file the certificate of formation online or by mailing it to the secretary of state expect the llc certification process to take approximately two weeks this is three to four days for the judge of probate and ten days for the secretary of state step four prepare an operating agreement now an operating agreement is a good idea to have in place with the other members if your llc has more than one member although a limited liability company operating agreement is not necessary for texas your operating agreement should clarify how your company or business will handle big picture issues such as allocating earnings and losses and dissolving the company your operating agreement should also cover the transfer of membership interest profits or losses and distributions initial investments decision making powers voting rights and management and lastly dissolving the business step five of file annual reports unlike most states texas does not require llcs to file annual reports with the secretary of state however llcs must file annual franchise tax reports the details for computing the tax can be complicated for more information check the comptroller of public accounts website and texas llc annual filing requirements step 6 obtain an ein an ein or employer identification number is a federal tax id issued by the irs your ein is used by them to readily identify your firm and tax filings all texas firms pay a business privilege tax and the state requires you to have an ein to file you may also be required to provide your ein when opening a bank account or applying for municipal permits or licenses obtaining an ein is a slightly longer process compared to their previous steps i'm sure you know anything to do with the irs is confusing first you have to have complete knowledge of your llc such as your company information managing member information business address business information company details and even critical information regarding vehicular assets and federal excise taxes this is another reason why getting a professional registered agent is way more convenient as they can do this for you as part of their service now let's talk about the second option to form an llc and that is hiring a professional formation service professional formation services do all the steps you should be doing on your own from filing necessary forms to acting as your registered agent you usually have to allocate a specific budget for this option as i already mentioned earlier inc file is one of the best companies out there to help you form your llc you can click on the link in the description to get access to this

Thanks for your comment Andrew Cumming, have a nice day.
- Maude Tomko, Staff Member

the following information is provided for educational purposes only and in no way constitutes legal tax or financial advice for legal tax or financial advice specific to your business needs we encourage you to consult with a licensed attorney and/or CPA in your state the following information is copyright protected no part may be redistributed copied modified or adapted without prior written consent of the author in this video we are going to teach you how to research and choose your desired LLC name the purpose of this video is to help you avoid infringing upon someone else's name rights to help you differentiate your business name from existing entities and to make sure your desired LLC name is available for use in order to make sure your desired LLC name is available for use you will need to search it against the existing organized entities on the state's online database we will first walk you through some requirements and restrictions and then later we will show you how to perform your search name requirements your LLC name must end with the words limited liability company or the abbreviations LLC dot or LLC using the abbreviation LLC is the most common for example Joe wants to start a company by the name Joe's landscaping services since he has formed an LLC he must file under the name Joe's landscaping services LLC again using the abbreviation LLC or the full word limited liability company is a requirement when forming an LLC name restrictions your LLC name cannot imply that it is a corporation you are not allowed to use the words corporation or incorporated or the abbreviations Corp or Inc anywhere in your LLC name let's look at our example again since Joe wants to form an LLC he cannot call his company Joe's landscaping services Inc LLC or Joe's landscaping services incorporated LLC your desired LLC name must we'll be distinguishable this means it cannot be too similar to the names of existing organized entities that are found in the results during the search of the database we will now illustrate several examples of distinguishability and we will provide examples you may see while performing your search differences in designators which are the identifier x' at the end of a business name do not create distinguishability examples of designators would be ink or corp for corporations and LLC or LLC for limited liability companies there are other designators as well but these are the most commonly used for example your desired LLC name is Smith Investments LLC but during the search of the database let's say you found the business under the name Smith Investments Inc in this example your desired LLC name would not be available for use you would have to think of an alternative name that is unique and different an example would be Smith Financial Group LLC grammatical differences the following do not create distinguishability differences in variables and singular plural and possessive forms of a word for example your desired LLC name is apple farm LLC let's just say during the search you found the business under the name apple farms LLC or let's say you also found a business under apples farm LLC with an apostrophe s both of these names although slightly different are too similar and therefore your desired LLC name would not be available for use an example of an alternative name would be bob's apple orchard LLC the following do not create distinguishability differences in articles such as a and or the for example your desired LLC name is print shop LLC let's just say that during the search of the database you found a business called the print shop LLC or you found the business called a print shop LLC again although they seem different these names are all the same in the eyes of the state and therefore your desired LLC name would not be available for use an alternative name would be printing solutions LLC the following also do not create distinguishability the use of conjunctions such as and or and the ampersand symbol let's say your desired LLC name is night and day LLC with the ampersand symbol but during your search you find a night and day LLC or you found that night day LLC again both of these examples are too similar and your desired LLC name is not distinguishable and therefore not available for use an example of an alternative name would be moon and sunshine LLC the following also do not create distinguishability the use of certain punctuation such as hyphens slashes periods commas etc let's say your desired LLC name is peter paul and mary studios LLC but during your search you found Peter - Paul - Mary Studios Incorporated or you found a Peter comma Paul comma and Mary studios Incorporated again both of these examples are too similar and therefore your desired LLC name would not be available for use an alternative example would be ppm productions LLC alphanumeric differences in numerical or written numbers does not create distinguished ability for example let's say your desired LLC name is three teachers Consulting LLC with the number three spelled out but during your search of the database you found the company called three teachers Consulting LLC with the number three again these are deceptively similar the state does not look at these as any different and therefore your desired LLC name would not be available for use an alternative example would be a few good teachers Consulting LLC deceptively similar names that are too similar to existing organized entities also do not create distinguished ability for example your desired LLC name is speedy delivery services LLC but during your search let's say you find a speed delivery services LLC or you find a super speedy delivery services LLC again these names are too similar therefore your desired LLC name would not be available for use an example of an alternative name would be at your door quake LLC takeaways as you can see just filing your paperwork with your desired LLC name is not as straightforward as you may have originally thought the most important takeaways from showing you all these examples are as follows it's important to make sure your name is truly unique and not too similar to the names of existing organized entities if your desired LLC name is unavailable for use either by its exact match already being used or by it being too similar to an existing name we recommend using some creativity and coming up with the variation of your original LLC name so that the name is now unique and is distinguishable and stands apart from other businesses some additional tips to think of when creating your LLC name are make your LLC name easy to spell you want to make sure people can find you when they're looking for you make your LLC name short shorter names are easier for people to remember make your LLC name have a positive connotation leave people with a good feeling when they hear about your business you are now ready to search your desired LLC name against the state's online database we showed you a number of examples where the desired LLC names were not available for use but don't worry in the next part of this video we will provide plenty of examples of names that are availa

Thanks Sean your participation is very much appreciated
- Maude Tomko

About the author

Maude Tomko

I've studied philosophy of chemistry at University of Wisconsin-Parkside in Kenosha and I am an expert in communication physics. I usually feel hot. My previous job was casino cashier I held this position for 3 years, I love talking about weaving and ant-keeping. Huge fan of Condoleezza Rice I practice bobsleigh and collect comic books.